For those of you who have taken the OSCP exam, how long did it take you to complete it? It's my understanding that you're given 24 hours to complete it, but I'm wondering what the average time to completion is.

Yeah, the exam is not that easy. I had nothing for the first 6 hours. I then took a nap and when I woke up, I went at it again and started to pwn boxes. From there I was on a roll. So, if you get stuck and your brain starts to hurt, stop and chill for a while because sooner or later things will look a bit more clearer and you will began to complete your objectives.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "completing" the exam...if you mean how long it took to pass it, then for me it took 8 hours with no break (*flexes muscles in a proud manner*). After I knew I had a passing score, I kind of fell asleep...then woke up and poked around a little bit more with no success later on. Never did "complete" it though.

One of the challenges totally intimidated me when I first read it, and I skipped right over it to the other ones, but then went back to it after getting stuck on something else and ended up nailing it pretty easily. So, my point is this: Don't let yourself get too overwhelmed. It can and should be a really, REALLY fun test.

BillV wrote:For those of you who have taken the OSCP exam, how long did it take you to complete it? It's my understanding that you're given 24 hours to complete it, but I'm wondering what the average time to completion is.

Thanks,BillV

I can say I probably had enough points to pass after 10 or 11 hours, but I don't like the idea of "just getting by." I took the entire 24 hours (minus a 2.5 hour nap) so I could work on accomplishing all of the assigned tasks. Since I kept my documentation pretty clean throughout, it didn't take long after the 24 hours for me to be able to submit my test documentation.

dynamik wrote:Slightly off-topic, but how well do you feel the course prepared you for the lab exam? I'd like to get to this sometime this year, but I'm having a difficult time gauging when to take the plunge.

dynamik,

The course completely prepares you for the exam, as far as how you have to think and the skills you need in order to complete the tasks. However, when you sit the exam, it looks almost completely different from what you've done throughout the course, if that makes sense.

There is a difference between giving you all the information that will be on an exam (like the old Novell courseware used to do - all the questions from the exam could be answered from between the covers of the course books), and giving you the skills and knowledge you need in order to pass an exam. In order to pass the OSCP exam, you have to be able to think creatively and use your skills, possibly in ways you haven't previously. However, the course does prepare you in that respect. Taking the course teaches you to think in ways you may not already be accustomed to (unless you are already an accomplished penetration tester).